Hampden's Bergamot
PearHampden's Bergamot
Origin / History
An old variety of uncertain origin (Downing; Hedrick), possessing many synonyms (Hedrick). Elliott classes it as "Foreign." Hedrick's earliest cited reference is Langley's Pomona (1729, Pl. 65, fig. 3); Hogg's Fruit Manual (1884) is also cited.
Tree
Not described in source.
Fruit
Size: Large (Elliott; Downing; Thomas; Hedrick — Hedrick gives "medium" under the "Bergamote Hamdens" entry and "large" under the "Hampden Bergamot" entry).
Form: Sources differ on form. Elliott calls it "roundish obovate." Downing describes it as "roundish oblate, a little rising at the stalk end." Thomas calls it "roundish." Hedrick describes it as "oblate" under one entry and as "globular, narrowing abruptly to the stalk, even and regular in outline" under another.
Stem / Stalk: Fruit a little rising at the stalk end (Downing); narrows abruptly to the stalk (Hedrick).
Cavity: Not described in source.
Calyx: Not described in source.
Basin: Not described in source.
Skin: Yellow (Elliott; Thomas); greenish yellow, with traces and patches of thin russet, and greenish russet dots (Downing); pale greenish-yellow, with traces of thin russet and greenish dots, sometimes a tinge of brownish-red next the sun (Hedrick).
Flesh / Flavor: White (Downing; Hedrick); a little coarse (Downing; Thomas) or rather coarse-grained (Hedrick); tender, half buttery, sweet, agreeable (Downing); breaking and buttery, if house-ripened (Thomas); buttery, sweet, agreeable (Hedrick). Downing rates it "Good"; Hedrick calls it "handsome, but hardly more than second class."
Core / Seeds: Not described in source (though several of the listed synonyms — Belle sans Pepins, Sans Pepins, Poire sans Pepins — imply a seedless or near-seedless tendency).
Season
September (Elliott; Downing; Thomas; Hedrick — "Sept."). Hedrick's "Bergamote Hamdens" entry gives August and September.
Uses
Best eaten house-ripened, when it becomes breaking and buttery (Thomas).
Subtypes / Variants
Elliott notes that there is also a Summer Bergamot — "small, roundish, yellowish green" — and a Large Summer Bergamot, calling both "equally worthless" and stating they ripen on the 1st of August.
Other
Hedrick describes the variety as "handsome, but hardly more than second class." Elliott additionally lists "Belle et Bonne" (syn. Gracieuse) as a separate foreign variety — large, roundish, greenish yellow, September — though "Belle et Bonne" and "Gracieuse" both appear in Downing's synonym list for Hampden's Bergamot, indicating that period sources disagreed on whether Belle et Bonne was the same variety or distinct. Thomas likewise gives Belle et Bonne a separate entry: "Large, roundish, greenish; rather coarse; buttery, sweet. September. Belgian."
Book Sources
Described in 4 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 1 catalog (1900)
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as Bergamot d'Ete
View original book sources (4)
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Hampden's Bergamot. Bergamot d'Angleterre, | Ellanrioch, | Bergamot d'Ete. Fingals, | Summer Bergamot, Foreign. Large, roundish obovate, yellow. September. There is also a Summer Bergamot, small, roundish, yellowish green ; and a Large Summer Bergamot, all equally worthless. Ripens 1st of August.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Belle et Bonne", pp. 422–422]
Belle et Bonne. Gracieuse. Foreign. Large, roundish, greenish yellow. September.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Hampden's Bergamot.
Bergamotte d'Angleterre. Bergamotte de Bruxelles. Fingal's. Bergamotte d'Ete Grosse. Scotch Bergamot. Bergamotte de Paysans. Ellanrioch. Gracieuse. Milan Vert. Fanfareau. Longueville d'Ecosse. Great Bergamotte. Hampden. Deutsche National Bergamotte. Beuzard. Poire sans Pepins. Belle et Bonne. Belle de Bruxelles. Belle sans Pepins. Sans Pepins. Belle de Luxembourg. Schone and Gute.
An old variety, the origin of which is unknown.
Fruit large, roundish oblate, a little rising at the stalk end, greenish yellow, with traces and patches of thin russet, and greenish russet dots. Flesh white, a little coarse, tender, half buttery, sweet, agreeable. Good. September.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Bergamot, Hampden's. Large, roundish, yellow; a little coarse; breaking and buttery, if house-ripened. September.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Belle et Bonne", pp. 783–783]
Belle et Bonne. Large, roundish, greenish; rather coarse; buttery, sweet. September. Belgian.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Bergamot, Hampden's", pp. 784–784]
Bergamot, Hampden's. Large, roundish, yellow; a little coarse; breaking and buttery, if house-ripened. September.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Bergamote Hamdens.
- Langley Pomona 131, Pl. 65, fig. 3. 1729.
Fruit medium, oblate; Aug. and Sept.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Bergamotte d'Été", pp. 453–453]
Bergamotte d'Été
is of ancient and unknown origin. Le Lectier wrote of it in 1628 as cultivated under the name of Milan de la Beuveriere. Fruit medium, globular-turbinate or globular, bossed, narrowed towards the top which is usually mammillate, pale green slightly yellowish on the shaded side and tinted with tender rose color on the cheek exposed to the sun, and dotted all over with fawn; flesh whitish, semi-fine, melting, rarely very gritty; juice abundant, rather tart, saccharine, with a very savory flavor; first; Aug. and Sept.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Hampden Bergamot", pp. 591–591]
Hampden Bergamot.
i. Hogg Fruit Man. 591. 1884.
An old variety of uncertain origin and possessing many synonyms. Fruit large, globular, narrowing abruptly to the stalk, even and regular in outline, pale greenish-yellow, with traces of thin russet and greenish dots, sometimes a tinge of brownish-red next the sun; flesh white, rather coarse-grained, buttery, sweet, agreeable; handsome, but hardly more than second class; Sept.